1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to billing subscribers for services on a network.
2. Background of the Invention
With increasing services available on a variety of interconnected networks, network operators are under pressure to provide greater connectivity to hosts of these services, such as the Internet and other data networks. This plethora of services like web browsing, real-time news and information, and multimedia content, revolves around sophisticated, interactive applications requiring quick and easy access, as well as allowing interconnectivity between services. In addition, there is increasing bandwidth available to subscribers at lower costs, as well as recent improvements in server technology and communication utilizing the packet-based IP Multimedia System (IMS) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Clearly, the fusion between IP networks and mobile networks is under way.
However, network operators today continue to grapple with the issues inherent to this converged services architecture. This is especially true when it comes to controlling customer management, which includes provisioning services, billing for services, and customer care after a service has been delivered. Current customer management models are operator-centric, e.g., complex applications have been developed to ease the burden of the Information Technology groups within the operator with no view from the customer. In seeking to solve the problem of mass data collection and dissemination for their own purposes, network operators tend to lose focus on the subscriber's needs or demands. Service providers and network operators may monitor a subscriber's usage of a service, and may use this information in their application development. However, subscribers rarely directly benefit from this information collection. Where the ability exists for an application server to monitor and record details of usage for a particular application, subscribers are still limited in their ability and flexibility to launch applications and services at will. Currently a subscriber can enable or “provision” a new service or application through talking directly with the network operator, from the internet or perhaps from the mobile device itself. However, there is usually a lag time between the request for the new application or service and when the request is fulfilled.
Furthermore, the service and application are usually not optimized for the subscriber's needs. For instance, a data connection having a high upload bandwidth may not be optimal for a subscriber who regularly watches streaming TV. However, it may be optimal for a business user who sends attachments via email or live video via teleconference. Subscribers are not given the opportunity to optimize those services based on embedded network operator intelligence and are constantly pushed services and applications that may not meet their desires nor are optimize for their intended use. Finally, subscribers are often dissatisfied with their billing statements. A subscriber may complain about being charged for an expected level of service when a lower level of service was actually delivered. For instance, an audio podcast may be faulty or contain static, and the subscriber will still be billed for the multimedia.
Such disconnect between subscribers and service providers can be blamed on the lack of communication between network elements such as provisioning mechanisms and billing servers. The bottom line in the business model for most network operators is the revenue generated per subscriber on the network, or Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Revenue is generated when a subscriber requests a specific service from an operator, such as a voice or data plan on a mobile device, and agrees to pay a certain amount for that service. Despite steady convergence in protocols and technologies, such as the IP Multimedia System (IMS), network operators are still using archaic network structures and have yet to tap into the potential of running a modular set of provisioning, application, billing, and QoS mechanisms. This lowers the ARPU, subscriber satisfaction, and network interoperability. With greater potential for offering several services and levels of services, what is needed is a system or method that overcomes long latency in application provisioning to keep subscribers happy while maintaining a normal level of revenue per subscriber.